Postgraduate classes admissions percentage

Admissions in postgraduate classes increased to 15 percent
Lahore, Dec 03: The percentage of admission in postgraduate classes in Pakistan has increased to 15 per cent of the entire admissions in higher education meaning thereby four per cent of the total population is seeking university education in Pakistan, which is double than the previous 2 per cent in the year 2002 achieved after billions of rupees spending on higher education. It is, however grossly lower than 12 per cent in India and 85 per cent in Korea.

According to a study conducted by the Education Executive Club (EEC), the strength of students in undergraduate level is 13.5 per cent of the total population and if 7 per cent are added by the year 2010, the strength comes to 17 lakh youth. The more alarming is the fact that we don't have the infrastructure to engage our graduates in nation-building endeavours. The low percentage of higher education and its application for development speak the pitiable state of affairs while it is no denying the fact that the higher education of quality is key to progress of any country and this is true for Pakistan.

According to the study, only 12,000 teachers are working in public sector universities in Punjab, while 24,000 are needed. The strength of PhD teachers in postgraduate classes is almost negligible i.e. 3050 of which 1500 are engaged in research. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has fixed target of 1000 PhDs every year but the cut in its budget would lead the PhD programme in fiasco. It is also a matter of concern that majority of PhDs are in Science subjects while the number of PhDs in Social Sciences is comparatively low.

There were 200 PhD scholars in Social Sciences by the end of 2008. As such lot has to be done to increase the number of PhD scholars in Science, Commerce and Social Sciences. The nation

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Punjab BISEs employees go complete pen-down strike
Lahore: Employees of the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore along with employees of other seven boards of Punjab observed a complete pen-down strike on Wednesday.

The Employees Federation of Educational Boards Punjab (EFEBP) had given the call for the strike as a protest against the Punjab Chief Minister's announcement regarding abolition of examination and registration fees of students of public sector educational institutions. It is pertinent to mention here that the visitors especially students faced troubles due to the strike.

Earlier, the employees had been observing strike only for two hours. The EFEBP had reacted over the decision maintaining that since the educational boards were autonomous bodies and generated revenue at their own, the decision would have an adverse financial impact on these.

The Federation has been demanding of the government to release grants to the educational institutions through the Education Department for paying examination fees, instead of abolishing them. It has also been demanding that if it was not possible, the government should provide grants to the boards directly. Meanwhile, the BISE Lahore has announced schedule for submission of forms for Matriculation Annual Examination 2010 starting from 13 March 2010.

The board has set January 9, 2010 as last date for submission of forms by regular students while for private students, the last date with single fee is December 12, 2009. The last date with double fee both for private and regular students is January 23, 2010 while last date with triple fee is February 13 2010.

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Call to award university status to FJMC
Lahore: The Association of Fatima Jinnah Old Graduates (AFJOG), terming Fatima Jinnah Medical College's affiliation with the University of Health Sciences a conspiracy, demanded the provincial government withdraw its decision and award university status to the college.

The AFJOG office-bearers, during a hurriedly called meeting on Wednesday, have also considered an option to issue a legal notice to the government for, what they called, a disgrace to the Pakistan's oldest Muslim female medical college by affiliating it with a four-year old nascent university after disaffiliating from the 150-year old Punjab University. "The government should facilitate students of this institution from 23 countries and honor longstanding demand of its old graduates all over the world by awarding it a status of a first women's medical university," they added.

They warned the government that the AFJOG would go to any extent by holding protest not only in Pakistan but also all over the world for not awarding it a degree-awarding status. They said that the doctors and students of the FJMC would hold protest demonstrations and stage rallies on the roads for the fulfillment of their demand.

They also urged Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to feel the sensitivity of the matter and honor the wishes of old graduates and present students as well as consider the plight of the women's population in the country.

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Health budget increased
Lahore: The provincial Minister for Excise & Taxation, Transport and Education, Mian Mujtaba Shujja ur Rehman, has said the government has increased the health budget to ensure the provision of modern health facilities to the poor.

He said a huge amount was being spent annually on the provision of free medicines in DHQ and teaching hospitals in the province.

According to a handout issued here on Wednesday, Mujtaba Shujja ur Rehman, while addressing the inaugural ceremony of an additional IC unit of neurosurgery at Lahore General Hospital (LGH), said that under the directions of the Punjab chief minister, the hospital was being made a model for neurosurgery as it was the largest hospital of neurosurgery in Asia.

He said that medical facilities were available only to the influential in the past, however, the present government had ensured the availability of free medicines to the deserving. He said steps were being taken to improve the hospital administration.

Hospital medical superintendent Dr. Iqbal Kazmi said latest MRI and CT scan machines had been provided to the hospital besides the provision of modern X-Ray machines, lab equipment in operation theatres and wards. He said that free medicines as well as diagnostic facilities like MRI & CT scan were being provided to indoor and outdoor patients in the hospital.

He said a new four-storeyed building with 450 beds was near completion and it would be handed over to the hospital by the end of this month. The news

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